Sword Of Orion

The Hidden Universe of the Spitzer Space Telescope (Episode 3): A Stellar Census of the Sword of Orion.

This is the Hidden Universe of the Spitzer Space Telescope, exploring the mysteries of infrared astronomy with your host Dr. Robert Hurt.

New images of the Orion Nebula show thousands of nascent solar systems. The Spitzer images have unsheathed the Sword of Orion and led astronomers to a treasure trove of baby stars within.

'The Hidden Universe' video series showcases some of the most exciting discoveries in infrared astronomy from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Looking beyond the visible spectrum of light, Spitzer can see a whole new universe of dust and stars hidden from our Earth-bound eyes.

Orion, the hunter, is one of the best-known constellations in the sky. Hanging beneath its distinctive three belt stars is a glowing patch known as the Sword of Orion, or M42.

At a distance of about 1,300 light years, this nearby stellar nursery is easily visible to the naked eye. But for astronomers studying the Sword of Orion, visible light alone just doesnt cut it. We see only the small patches where young stars heat the surrounding gas and make it glow.

The bulk of the Orion cloud complex is a mostly dark swath of dust and gas containing the mass of about 100,000 Suns and spanning 250 light years. The infrared eye of the Spitzer Space Telescope can see this dust directly and identify the vast population of infant stars buried within.

Spitzer can find young stars by detecting the infrared glow from their surrounding dusty disks. The very youngest stars are gobbling up material from their disks and growing larger. Later, the left-over disks around adolescent stars can provide the resources for building planets.

• http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/